MATT DAMON stars as John Grady Cole, the young Texas horseman whose journey from innocence to experience is at the heart of ALL THE PRETTY HORSES. In 1998, Damon shared the Best Screenwriter Academy Award Ben Affleck for 'Good Will Hunting,' and also garnered a Best Actor nomination for his acclaimed role as a working-class genius. That same year, he came to the fore in three other major feature films: Steven Spielberg's acclaimed war classic 'Saving Private Ryan"; the gambling world thriller "Rounders" directed by John Dahl; and Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Rainmaker' based on the best-selling John Grisham novel.

Damon most recently drew further critical notice in Anthony Minghella's "The
Talented Mr. Ripley." This season, he is also starring in Robert Redford's "The
Legend of Bagger Vance" with Will Smith and Charlize Theron. Forthcoming for
Damon is the comedy "The Third Wheel" with Ben Affleck, a remake of "Oceans
Eleven" directed by Steven Soderbergh and also starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and
Julia Roberts; and "The Bourne Identity," based on the Robert Ludlum bestseller. Damon also recently starred with Ben Affleck and an ensemble cast in Kevin
Smith's cosmic fantasy "Dogma" and previously made a cameo appearance in Smith's "Chasing Amy." He made his feature film debut in 1988 in the ensemble drama "Mystic Pizza." He went on to play Brian Dennehy's medical school dropout son in the TV movie "Rising Son" and gained further attention when he returned to the big screen as one of the Fascist preppies in "School Ties." For director Walter Hill, Damon portrayed the green second lieutenant who narrates "Geronimo: An American Legend." He also appeared in "The Good Old Boys" directed by Tommy Lee Jones for TNT. In 1996. Damon gave a riveting performance as a guilt-ridden Gulf War soldier in Ed Zwick's "Courage Under Fire."

Damon, who attended Harvard University, first gained acting experience at the American Repertory Theatre as well as other Boston-based theatrical venues.